1001 Homebrew Ideas to Flesh Out Sometime

[Garryl]

Necrolyte base class
Necrocarnum-focused meldshaper.

Alignment: Any non-good.

Gains the Necrocarnum Acolyte feat that lets you shape necrocarnum melds (and gives +1 to the save DC of them) at first level.

Soulmeld list is almost entirely necrocarnum melds. Lots of soulmelds are focused on the powers of undead, similar to the totemist's focus on magical beasts.

Undead matching one of your shaped soulmelds react better. Mindless undead will ignore you unless they are provoked or they are under the command of another. Intelligent undead do not instinctively feel hatred, bloodlust, or other negative sentiments towards you (although they may still hate you for more rational reasons), and will generally have an initial attitude of indifferent upon first meeting you, rather than hostile or unfriendly. You gain a +4 bonus on Diplomacy checks for the purpose of influencing intelligent undead. Undead will still react normally (usually with hostility) to your allies, however.
- Note: Mostly for the undead-specific melds being introduced here, but also counts if you have totemist magical beast soulemlds shaped and you encounter an undeadified version of that.)
- Might just make this global, rather than tied to the specific soulmelds you have shaped.

Gets +1 and later +2 to essentia capacity of necrocarnum melds.

Some ability to necromance. The Necrocarnum Circlet's singular necrocarnum zombie isn't enough. Might be some kind of rebuking, might be some ability to animate dead/create undead separate from that. Some ideas:
- Animate dead as an SLA (no material components), but you need to invest 1 essentia per 10 HD of undead instead or something.
- Unshape a necrocarnum soulmeld to rebuke undead. If you unshape an undead meld, gain bonuses for rebuking that undead. (Could be bonuses to your turning level or doing a "greater rebuking" where anything you rebuke gets controlled instead.) (Soulmelds as Pokeballs?)


Note: Undead melds are necrocarnum.

(click to show/hide)

Least Chakras
Crown: Allip, Ghost
Feet: Wraith
Hands: Devourer, Ghast, Zombie

Lesser Chakras
Arms: Ghoul, Mummy
Brow: Allip, Bodak, Mummy, Vampire
Shoulders: Shadow, Vampire

Greater Chakras
Waist: Ghast, Lich
Throat: Mohrg, Nightshade, Vampire

Advanced Chakras
Heart: Ghost, Necrocarnum Zombie, Nightshade, Zombie
Soul: Devourer, Lich, Necrocarnum Zombie

Allip's Words
Base: Immune to language-dependent effects.
Essentia: Bonus on saves vs. mind-affecting.
Brow: Standard action, nearby sane creatures must Will save or take no action for 1d4 rounds up to a maximum of the essentia invested. Once affected, a creature is immune to subsequent uses for 24 hours. Mind-affecting sonic compulsion.
Crown: Deal Wisdom damage when targeted by a mind-affecting effect.

Bodak's Eyes
Base: 50% chance to ignore gaze attacks, or 100% if averting your gaze.
Essentia: Bonus on Spot checks.
Brow: Standard action to gaze at a living creature. Fort save or stunned for 1d4 rounds or until attacked. If you have at least as much essentia invested as they have HD, they die instead.

Devourer's Grasp
Base: You can capture the soul of any creature you kill in melee. Can hold the soul for up to 24 hours. You can hold up to one soul at a time. Release the soul as a free action, or when the soulmeld is unshaped. While you have a captured soul, you can draw power from it as a free action, granting you 1 additional essentia for up to its HD in rounds. You can draw more than 1 essentia at a time from it, up to your essentia capacity with this soulmeld, but each additional essentia counts against the total number of rounds you can draw power from the soul. When the soul runs out of rounds of essentia, it is released.
Essentia: Bonus on saves against charms, compulsions, death effects, positive and negative energy, energy drain, and effects that influence your soul.
Hands: Use Spectral Hand at will while you have a captured soul. You don't lose (or regain) hit points. Spell acts like it has a permanent duration, but every 5 rounds counts as 1 round of drawn essentia from the captured soul.
Soul: You are immune to the following spells and effects while you have a captured soul: banishment, chaos hammer, confusion, crushing despair, detect thoughts, dispel evil, dominate person, fear, geas/quest, holy word, hypnotism, imprisonment, magic jar, maze, suggestion, trap the soul, or any form of charm or compulsion.

Ghoul Claws
Base: Gain a pair of weak claw attacks.
Essentia: Enhancement bonus for the claws.
Arms: If you hit a creature with both claws in the same round, it must Fort save or be stunned for 1 round. Elves are immune.

Ghast's Pallor
Base: Immune to disease.
Essentia: Bonus on Fort saves.
Hands: 1/round, when you hit a creature with a melee attack, infect it with Ghoul Fever (Fort negates, use soulmeld's save DC instead of disease's for initial save). If it's already infected, failed Fort save accelerates the disease, dealing 1d3 Con damage and 1d3 Dex damage.
Waist: Nearby living creatures are sickened (no save). Essentia increases the area.

Ghost Veil
Base: See into the ethereal plane. Also see incorporeal and ethereal creatures up to 5 feet into solid objects.
Essentia: Deflection bonus to AC, but penalty to weapon damage rolls against corporeal creatures, except with ghost touch, force, and positive/negative energy effects.
Crown: Also see invisible.
Heart: Choose a lesser ghost power.
Shoulders: 10% chance +5%/essentia (max 50%) to ignore damage from corporeal sources, aside from ghost touch, force, and positive/negative energy effects (as though with a lesser form of incorporeality).

Lich's Might
Base: +1 enhancement to save DCs of your Necromancy spells
Essentia: Enhancement bonus to caster level checks vs. SR (all spells)
Waist: Gain DR 1/bludgeoning and magic and resistance 3 to cold and electricity per essentia invested
Soul: If you die, soulmeld coalesces into a physical phylactery that stores your life force. If it isn't destroyed, you reappear after 1d10 days.

Mohrg's Tongue
Base: No AoOs when starting a grapple. Gain +2 on grapple checks.
Essentia: Bonus on grapple checks.
Throat: Make melee touch attack as a standard action. Causes paralysis for 1 round on failed Fort save.

Mummy's Wrappings
Base: When a creature that attacks while it can see you, it must make a Will save or be shaken for 1 round. This can't stack with other fear effects and conditions. After rolling, a creature is not subject to this effect for 5 minutes. The shaken condition applies before resolving the attack. Mind-affecting fear effect.
Essentia: +1 round duration.
Arms: Any creature you damage with a melee attack becomes unaffected by magical healing for 1 minute. Any magical healing requires a caster level check (DC 5 + your meldshaper level + 2x essentia). If the check fails, the creature regains no hit points from the healing.
Brow: As a standard action, gaze at a shaken, frightened, or panicked creature. It must make a Will save or be cower for 1 round + 1 round/essentia, or until it's no longer shaken, frightened, or panicked. Mind-affecting fear effects.

Necrocarnum Zombie Infusion
Base: Attacks strike as though wielding a magic weapon. Gain DR 2/magic.
Essentia: Increase DR/magic by 2x essentia invested.
Heart: You gain an insight bonus to all your speeds. The value of this bonus equals +10 feet per point of essentia you have invested in this soulmeld. You also gain an insight bonus equal to twice the points of invested essentia on initiative checks.
Soul: You gain an insight bonus to your AC and on your saving throws. The value of this bonus equals the points of essentia you have invested in this soulmeld.

Nightshade's Presence
Base: Aura gives desecrate-like bonuses to nearby undead.
Essentia: Increase radius.
Throat: Summon undead creatures.
Heart: Improves aura to double-strength desecrate.

Shadow's Cloak
Base: Ghost touch.
Essentia: Bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks.
Shoulders: Become incorporeal while moving. (Limitation?)

Skeletal Ribcage
Base:
Essentia: Bonus to initiative.
Heart: Natural armor bonus.

Spectre ...
Base:
Essentia:

Vampire's Cowl
Base: Gain 2 temp hp when a creature within 30 ft. takes damage. Gain double that if it's from bleeding, or if it's hp loss from Constitution damage/drain or negative levels.
Essentia: Increases temp hp gained by 1/essentia (2 if it's bleeding, Con loss, or neg levels).
Brow: Standard action to gaze. Will save or charmed for 1 round/essentia.
Shoulders: Assume and revert from gaseous form at will. If you fall unconscious or become dying, you automatically stabilize and become gaseous.
Throat: Gain bite attack. Also deals Constitution damage equal to essentia invested on failed Fort save.

Wight ...
Base:
Essentia:

Wraith Boots
Base: Ignore difficult terrain. Can move through spaces occupied by enemies (as long as you don't end your movement there).
Essentia: Dodge bonus to AC against AoOs.
Feet: Enemies you move through must Will save or be shaken for 1 round.

Zombie's Flesh
Base: Immune to disease.
Essentia: +1 hp/level/essentia. Like the additional hit points granted by an increase to your Constitution score, these are not temporary hit points and are not lost first. As such, if essentia is removed from this soulmeld, you lose a commensurate number of hit points, possibly even killing you.
Hands: Gain a slam attack.
Heart: Gain DR 5/slashing.

Necrocarnum Bonds
Base: Share Pain with a willing creature, but one way (they take 50% of your damage). One creature at a time, ends if you're more than 10 feet apart for more than 1 round.
Essentia: +10 ft. max distance.
Arms: Can target an unwilling creature. Will negates.
Waist: If you have to make a save, use the higher of your modifiers for the save or the bonded creature's modifiers.

Note: Also refer to soulmelds in Sirp's Necrocarnate rework.

[Stratovarius]

I'd love to see that Necrocarnum boy fleshed out. But there's probably a lot of melds to create before that's the case.

[Garryl]

Inspired by discussions about movement in 5th edition and the limitations thereof (and in turn-based D&D in general). These might be feats, these might be class features, these might just be basic changes to the rules. I'm just writing them as feats for simplicity.

Evasive Footwork [General]
Benefits: When an opponent that you did not threaten enters one of your threatened spaces, you can move 5 feet as an immediate action. Your movement does not provoke an attack of opportunity form that creature. This movement counts towards the total distance you can travel for any movement you might make during your next turn; you would be able to move 5 feet fewer if you charged or moved normally, and you would move no distance at all if you took a 5-foot step.

[Garryl]

House rule for crusaders so that they can use homebrew maneuvers that can be initiated while flat-footed (which normally denies you immediate action usage) or on an attack of opportunity (which Combat Reflexes enables while flat-footed). Instead of getting the initial maneuvers granted when the crusader takes their first action in an encounter, the maneuvers are granted to them at the start of the encounter (or when they join it, if they're not present for the start).

[Elves]

Good point. If not houseruling, exemption clause should be put in mv text.

[Garryl]

Those sorts of things would need both changes for crusaders to use them as intended:
1) Exemption clause in the counter itself so that you can spend the immediate action to initiate it while flat-footed. Necessary for the maneuver to be usable at all.
2) Change to crusader's initial granted maneuvers timing so that they have access to those pre-combat counters in time to use them before their first turn.

[Garryl]

Incarnum Graftshaper [General]
Prerequisites: Ability to bind a soulmeld to a lesser chakra, must have at least 2 grafts.
Benefits: You can shape and bind soulmelds to graft slots in which you have a graft as though they were chakras. This effectively allows you to have two soulmelds shaped and bound to the same chakra, or to maintain the use of magic items in a slot with a bound soulmeld.

When you shape a soulmeld to a graft slot, you choose which chakra it emulates. Each graft can emulate only specific chakras.

• Arms: Arms, Hands
• Flesh: Heart, Soul
• Head: Brow, Crown
• Legs: Feet, Waist
• Skin: Shoulders, Throat

Soulmelds bound to graft slots suppress the properties of grafts in that slot aside from their most basic functions as limbs or body parts that you would normally have, similar to how soulmelds bound to chakras prevent you from benefiting from magic items worn on their associated body slot (this is an exception to the normal rule that grafts cannot be suppressed).

[Garryl]

Penetrating weapon (probably +2 bonus price):

Attacks with the weapon ignore the target's armor bonus to AC if it's less than or equal to 3 + the weapon's enhancement bonus. If the armor bonus is greater than that, it still applies fully, as normal. The same is true for natural armor bonus to AC.

[Garryl]

Sprinting skill (Con-based, ACP applies)
- Class skill for:
  - PHB: barbarian, monk, ranger
  - DMG: horizon walker, shadowdancer
  - XPH: elocater, psionic fist
  - ToB: swordsage
  - Other sources I don't have memorized/ready access to: ninja, scout

Dash: Make a check (DC 12) to add additional distance to your movement (other than 5-foot steps an equivalents).
- Success adds 5 ft. to the distance you can travel. If you succeed by 10 or more, you can add up to 5 more feet of movement distance per 10 points by which you succeeded.
- You also gain a +2 circumstance bonus on your next Jump check made during this movement for every 5 feet of distance you add. If you make multiple Sprint checks as part of the same action, they don't stack; only the highest bonus applies. If you make multiple Jump checks as part of the same movement, you only get the bonus from the Sprint checks made since the previous Jump check.
- If you fail by 5+, you lose 5 feet of movement distance per 5 points you failed by and you also require a followup Constitution check (or Endurance check if playing with that skill, too) at the same DC to avoid becoming fatigued for 1 minute.
- For every 5 feet of movement gained through dashing, increase the DC of future checks by 2 until you stop dashing for 1 minute.
- During movement, you can make up to one Sprint check for extra speed for each multiple of your speed you're allowed to move. Do one check at beginning of the movement and again after moving each multiple of your speed (excluding additional distance traveled through this skill and similar effects that increase the distance you can travel without affecting your speed).
- Anything that prevents you from running prevents you from this use of Sprint.

Speedy Cornering: Make a check to turn while moving in a straight line (ex: run, charge). The DC is 10 for up to a 30 degree turn, +5 to the DC per 15 additional degrees turn (DC 15 for a 45 degree turn, DC 20 for 60 degrees, DC 25 for 75 degrees, DC 30 for 90 degrees). If you succeed, you can make the turn while moving up to no more than your normal speed (this is a separate limit to the distance you can move in the round, independent of the distance you are actually allowed to move by the actions you take).
- For every 5 points by which you beat the DC, you can make the turn whiling moving up to one additional multiple of your speed.
  - Alternatively, +4 to DC for every extra multiple of your speed you want to move. Decide the speed beforehand instead of after rolling.
- If you fail, you can't make the turn. You must continue your movement by at least 5 feet, after which you can choose to stop moving or continue onward in your line.
- If you fail by 5+, you also require a followup Balance check or Reflex save at the same DC to avoid falling prone.
- While moving in a straight line (ex: run, charge), you can make one Sprint check per round for speedy cornering.
- Make the check at the point at which you turn.
- Can't use this as part of a charge if untrained. If you're trained in Sprint, you can use this as part of a charge, starting your movement in a straight line in the direction of your choice and turning such that you end your movement along a valid charge path from the point of your turn (10+ feet of movement in a straight line towards the target, attacking form the nearest space).
- Note: This also allows you to turn while moving with a clumsy, poor, or average maneuverability movement mode without spending extra movement to turn and/or at a higher turning rate than you'd normally be allowed.

Synergies:
- 5 ranks in Sprint grants you a +2 bonus on Constitution (Endurance) checks to continue running.
- 5 ranks in Balance gives you a +2 bonus on Sprint checks to corner at speed.


Math stuff:
- Average Joe +0 (10 Con, 0 ranks): 45% chance to gain 5 ft. speed, 35% chance to lose 5 ft. speed.
- Trained Sprinter +6 (14 Con, 4 ranks): 25% chance to gain 10 ft. speed, 50% chance to gain 5 ft. speed, 5% chance to lose 5 ft. speed.

I'm a little uncertain about this as an actual skill, as it does somewhat directly add to combat power (additional movement speed), albeit on one of those secondary statistics that doesn't come up directly too much. It doesn't help with direct, stand-up fights when combat numbers are all you care about, but that extra bit of maneuvering capability can be really strong in the right circumstances, along the lines of changing a turn where you only move to one where you can move and perform your attacks or cast spells. In the right circumstances it can be like an extra move action.

[Stratovarius]

Well, it has the obvious downside of being a skill, which is that it's abusable by serious min maxing to be significant free movement. And that it's one more skill designed for classes that already have far too many compared to their skill points.

It's something where the rules and intentions are good, but it might be better to make it a Strength check instead of a skill check, with the risk of fatigue being a Con check.

[Garryl]

Revised Half-Orc

Half-Orc Racial Traits

• +2 Str, -2 Int.
  
• Medium Humanoid (human, orc): Half-orcs count as both humans and orcs for the purpose of effects and prerequisites (see human blood and orc blood, below).
  
• Base Speed 30 feet
  
• Human Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-orc is considered a human.
  
• Orc Blood: For all effects related to race, a half-orc is considered an orc.
  
• Darkvision: Half-orcs (and orcs) can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and half-orcs can function just fine with no light at all.
  
• Cultural Upbringing: Half-orcs inherit some of the adaptability of their human parents. At character creation, the half-orc chooses whether to gain a bonus fighter feat or to gain additional skill points as a human. This tends to express itself differently depending on the environment in which each half-orc is raised.
  
• Half-orcs have a +2 racial bonus on all Intimidate checks.
• Favored Class: Barbarian.
  
• Automatic Languages: Common, Orc.
  
• Bonus Languages:  Draconic, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, and Abyssal.
  

[Garryl]

Soulborn as ToB/Incarnum hybrid class

HD: d10
Skills: 4 + Int
Alignment: Any non-neutral (LG, CG, LE, or CE)

Aura: Unchanged.
Smite Opposition: Unchanged.
Incanrum Defense: Similar, but different immunities (2nd level, immunity based on alignment. LG: fear; CG: Stun and paralysis. LE: Fatigue and exhaustion. CE: Sickened and nauseated.)
Bonus Feats: Probably removed.
Share Incarnum Defense: Unchanged.
Timeless Body: Unchanged.

Meldshaping: As original, but with much faster essentia progression, starting from level 1 or 2.

Maneuvers: Learn maneuvers at Warblade progression. As a full-round action, recover all expended maneuvers and divest any invested essentia from expended maneuvers recovered this way, returning it to your essentia pool.

Martial Meldshaping: When you gain a level in a PrC that can progress your Soulborn meldshaping, that level also counts full for Soulborn IL (even at levels where it doesn't progress meldshaping). Any martial adept PrC that counts full (instead of 1/2) towards your Soulborn IL also progresses your Soulborn meldshaper level (but not other meldshaping-related statistics, such as essentia and soulmelds) at each level, if it doesn't already.

Soul of the Blade: Starting at 2nd level, your martial stances and readied martial maneuvers are essentia receptacles. This allows you to invest essentia in them like you would a soulmeld. You gain the listed benefit, based on the type of maneuver, while you have any essentia invested in it. Some martial maneuvers provide additional benefits with invested essentia.

• Boost: When you initiate the boost, gain a +1/essentia insight bonus on your next attack roll before the end of your turn.
  
• Counter: Gain a +1/essentia insight bonus to AC or to your saving throw against whatever triggering attack or effect you initiated the counter against. If the counter involves making a skill check or attack roll to protect yourself from the triggering attack or effect, the bonus applies to that, too.
  
• Rush: Gain a 5'/essentia insight bonus to movement speed for movement made as part of the rush.
  
• Stance: While in the stance, gain a +2/essentia insight bonus on all skill checks with the discipline's key skill.
  
• Strike: Gain a +1d4/essentia bonus on damage rolls made as part of the strike.
  

You cannot change the amount of essentia invested in an expended maneuver. It cannot be reinvested or removed until such time as you recover it.

As part of the action to initiate a maneuver or enter a martial stance, you can invest essentia into it. This essentia can come directly from your essentia pool or from other essentia receptacles whose investments you can modify, such as soulmelds and other unexpended maneuvers and stances.

----------------------------------------

Incarnum Martial Discipline
Key skill: Spellcraft
Discipline weapons: ...


1
Aligned Strike - Strike: Attack deals +1d4 damage and bypasses DR as though it had all non-neutral components of your alignment. If opponent has any alignment component opposed to at least one non-neutral component of your own alignment, bonus damage is +1d6 and you get a +2 bonus on your attack roll. If both are opposed, instead bonus damage is +1d8 and you get a +4 bonus on your attack roll. This also affects the bonus damage dice from Soul of the Blade due to essentia invested in this maneuver.
Incarnum Focus - Stance: Gain +2 insight on saves vs. spells and spell-like effects. If essentia is invested, also affects allies within 10 ft./essentia.
Incarnum Surge - Boost: As part of this maneuver, you can reallocate your essentia investments. Until the end of your turn, you have +1 essentia capacity and you gain 1 temporary point of essentia. For every point of essentia invested in this maneuver, you gain an additional 2 temporary points of essentia for the turn.

2
Bluesteel Defense - Counter: When attacked, make an opposed initiative check against your attacker. If you win, the attack misses. Gain +2/essentia invested on the initiative check. If you win the check, your initiative count moves up by 2/essentia in the following round (see Moment of Alacrity for wording).

3
Forge of Souls - Stance: Any weapon you wield any any armor or shield you wear gains a +1 enhancement bonus. This enhancement bonus increases by the amount of essentia invested in this stance.
Impulse Surge - Rush: Move up to your speed. No AoOs for movement and can move through occupied spaces. Gain a dodge bonus to AC equal to invested essentia for 1 round.
Open Soul Assault - Strike: Attack deals +4d4 damage. If it hits, the creature also takes penalty equal to the amount of invested essentia to AC and saves against the next soulmeld-produced effect you or your allies use against it before the end of your next turn.

4
Crystalized Will: Iron Heart Surge-type effect. Get a deflection bonus to AC and to saves vs. mind-affecting for 1 round equal to invested essentia. While unexpended, gain an insight bonus on saves vs. mind-affecting equal to invested essentia.
Enigmatic Moment - Boost: Become invisible and undetectable by special senses and Divination effects for 1 round. While any essentia is invested in this maneuver and it is unexpended, gain a Nondetection-type effect (DC 5 + IL + essentia invested).

5

6

7

8

9
Incarnate Strike - Strike: ...

[Garryl]

Incarnum Attunement [Incarnum, Psionic]
Prerequisites: Con 13, Psychic Meditation, ability to bind a soulmeld to a chakra.
Benefits: You gain a +1 bonus to your meldshaper level for soulmelds shaped on chakras associated with one of your awakened psychic energy centers. While at least one of your psychic energy centers is activated, you also gain a +1 bonus to your essentia capacity for soulmelds bound to chakras associated with those psychic energy centers, and you gain 1 temporary point of essentia that can only be invested in soulmelds shaped on chakras associated with those psychic energy centers.

Psychic Energy Center	Associated Chakras
Crown	Crown
Third Eye	Brow
Throat	Throat
Heart	Heart
Solar (Plexus)	Arms, Shoulders
Base	Feet, Waist
Sacral	Hands, Soul

... maybe better as a permanent +1 essentia instead of playing around with a temporary point?

[Garryl]

Dazzled condition is underwhelming. Also, if you're somehow dazzled and blinded, despite the fact that dazzled is basically a lesser for of being unable to see, the penalties stack, which is just weird.

Dazzled: The creature is unable to see well because of overstimulation of the eyes. All opponents are considered to have concealment (20% miss chance) to the dazzled character. All checks that rely on vision (such as Search and Spot checks) are made with a -2 penalty. The effects of being dazzled do not stack with those of being blinded; only the stronger condition applies. Sightless creatures cannot become dazzled.

This might be making it a little too strong compared to how it's expected to be, making abilities that employ it a little too potent. A 20% miss chance stays relevant at high levels, and being concealment means that precision damage is disabled and hiding is possible (although a Bluff check would be needed to create a diversion, since presumably the creature you dazzled is aware of you at that point). Then again, the abilities that just dazzle are generally considered way on the weak side.

On the other hand, this buff to dazzled does significantly nerf races with light sensitivity and light blindness, which dazzles them within bright sunlight. Those tend to be on the weaker side already as player races (water orc excepted, and possibly also kobolds for the later material that is specifically for them and for Dragonwrought aging stuff), which means nerfing options that are already bad. I'd be inclined to let players using those races do something minor to negate the dazzling. I think there are some cheap nonmagical goggles in some book that negate daylight sensitivity's dazzling but keep just a small Spot penalty or something. Regardless, I'd also be inclined to price it similarly to a skill trick or a Barbarian's illiteracy, something that you can spend 2 skill points to remove.

For personal reference, a discussion covering light senstivity.

[Skyrock]

I think there are some cheap nonmagical goggles in some book that negate daylight sensitivity's dazzling but keep just a small Spot penalty or something.

Sun Lenses, 10gp, Sandstorm p.101

[Garryl]

Terminology clarification: attacking.

The term attack is used for two different things in D&D. First, the obvious, is performing an attack, usually involving an attack roll of some sort to see if you hit with your weapon or weapon-like effect. Second, performing any sort of hostile action, including making a weapon attack, casting an offensive spell, turning undead, etc. This is used a few times in a few places, but the only place I think it's actually defined is in the description of the invisibility spell. I would like to change the second meaning to use a different, separate term. I'm leaning towards the term "assault," myself.

Assault: Sometimes, a spells or ability refers to assaulting a creature or performing an assault. Making an attack against a foe is an assault. An assault also includes any spell targeting a foe or whose area or effect includes a foe. (Exactly who is a foe depends on the assaulting and receiving characters' perceptions; if either considers the other an enemy or opponent, it is considered an assault.) Actions directed at unattended objects do not count as assaults, unless the character wishes them to. Causing harm indirectly is not an assault. Thus, an assault does not include summoning monsters and having them attack, cutting the ropes holding a rope bridge while enemies are on the bridge, remotely triggering traps, opening a portcullis to release attack dogs, and so forth. Spells such as bless that specifically affect allies but not foes are not assaults, even when they include foes in their area.

[Garryl]

Reactive Damage Reduction: Expressed as RDR x/<y. If you take more than y damage at a time, reduce the damage taken by x. This can't reduce it to less than y. Reactive damage reduction otherwise functions as and counts as damage reduction; reactive and regular DR don't stack, and damage sources that ignore or automatically bypass DR likewise ignore or bypass reactive DR.

[Elves]

Incarnum base class that uses offensive soulmelds, which are like normal soulmelds but occupy an enemy's body slot, debuffing or damaging them. Bind your offensive soulmelds at start of day, only one instance of each can be active at a time. Possibly, can also grant allies temporary access to beneficial melds from the extant list. Class theme: twist, shape, sculpt other peoples's souls. Evil creatures may suffer more from nasty offensive soulmelds, as you're bringing out and incarnating the wickedness within them, while there might be offensive melds that work best against good creatures by eg playing upon their inner mercy to prevent them from attacking.

[Elves]

"Runerunner"

Class that creates different effects by running in different patterns on the floor.

There's a list of shapes, and each shape has different effects. Each day, you choose which effect will apply today.

For example, a closed circle could create a wall of fire, a blast of fire within its circumference, or a blast of fire outside its circumference.

Starting at 5th or 6th level, you gain access to 3-dimensional patterns that can be drawn while flying in the air or by jumping or climbing.

Not sure whether it should be a base or prestige class.


To prevent it from just being speed is king, you would probably get a certain number of "rune points", either per-turn or in total. Whenever you leave a space, you can spend a rune point to make that space part of a rune. If it's per turn you would also have a total number of runes you can have active at 1 time.

[Garryl]

"Runerunner"

I'm not sure typical D&D combat environments are conducive to such a mechanic, but it certainly sounds intriguing and it would certainly encourage encounters that aren't 10x10 rooms with an orc. Desert Wind has a couple of maneuvers like that (Ring of Fire deals area damage in a circle you enclose, Salamander Charge makes a wall of fire in the spaces you move through) and I've seen and made a few homebrew abilities using effects on the spaces you move through. I'd be interested to see if there's something worth exploring in this concept.

I can see the basic thing being something like a full-round action to double move, placing runes in the spaces you move through as a free action, up to one rune per space and up to some number of runes based on your level. At the conclusion of your movement, if you placed runes in a pattern matching one of the effects you know, you can consume those runes to activate that effect (unconsumed runes dissipate harmlessly).